A peaceful Christmas and what my mother-in-law gave me

I got what I really wanted for Christmas: a quiet, happy few moments with my family. We invited our friend Adrienne over for Christmas morning, and we were glad for her company. Kids and adults alike enjoyed the morning. After coffee, breakfast, opening gifts and some not too enthusiastic cleaning of dishes, kids dispersed to play with toys or get some fresh air. Paul and I had an hour or so, to linger in front of the fire and read. We were incredibly happy to do so. I thumbed through both of the cookbooks he gave me: Donna Hay’s The New Cook and Anjum Anand’s Anjum’s New Indian. I think the Indian cookbook will get a lot of use.
We packed up kids, presents and ski bags on Sunday, to visit family in Syracuse. Sadly, Paul couldn’t join us because he had jury duty on Monday. Still, we went to see my dad, Paul’s family, and friends. After a few days of being stuffed like pigs (lovely home-cooked meals along with an entire day of meals eaten in restaurants, including two of my favorite places to eat: King David’s and the Foggy Goggle,) we headed home.
Unpacking my car, I found all sorts of things my mother-in-law tucked into the back of my car while I was unaware: bottles of red wine, beer, a heating pad, boxes of crackers and even cash. Maybe even best of all, was half of a bone-in, oven roasted ham. Maybe it was because she gave it to us, and I was so grateful, but it was the best ham I’ve ever had. She baked it for a good long time, so it had a very crisp outside. The meat was especially smoky and buttery.
Tonight, I sliced all the meat off, and cooked the bone with lots of garlic and onion. Then I added chicken broth, rosemary, wild rice, lentils and split peas. After the rice had simmered for about 30 minutes, I added carrots and the chopped ham. Each of my kids had a friend for dinner tonight, so Paul and I were outnumbered 6-2 at the table. It’s no wonder that we forgot to take a picture of the soup. I made Parmesan bread sticks and a green salad. Every kid ate two bowls of ham and rice soup. We finished with brownies, ice cream and a movie.